Large angler outcry helps sway Fish and Game Commission to reject onerous plans that could have eradicated striped bass in California
Your Voice Was Heard!

KeepAmericaFishing™ called upon anglers to voice their concerns over unwarranted striped bass regulations. Hundreds of messages were sent to the California Fish and Game Commission through the KeepAmericaFishing website, helping to defeat these onerous regulations.

KeepAmericaFishing will continue to monitor this issue and work to ensure that threats to recreational fishing in California and across the country are minimized. For more information on this and other issues affecting your right to fish, visit www.KeepAmericaFishing.org.

The Deciding VoteDuring its February 2 meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously not to pursue changing striped bass sport fishing regulations, which included increasing bag limits and decreasing size limits resulting in an overall decrease in striped bass populations.

Why the Change in Regulations?The proposed changes arose from a 2008 lawsuit which claimed that striped bass are "harming" native species. This claim ignored the devastating impacts that increased water diversions for agricultural irrigation in California's Central Valley are having on recreational salmon fishing and businesses that depend on the Delta's fishery. Instead of addressing the real threats to salmon and Delta smelt by reducing irrigation rates, the Central Valley's water contractors shifted the blame to striped bass.

The Department of Fish and Game proposed changes in striped bass regulations would have resulted in an overall decrease in striped bass populations. Fortunately the commission saw through the erroneous logic of the proposed regulations and voted not to move the regulations forward.

KeepAmericaFishing is dedicated to keeping waters open and abundant with fish, and these regulations could not have been defeated without the strong efforts of anglers like you.